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Lessons with duration of 60 minutes or more in a high school create a new set of conditions for the teacher and the students in his/her class.
It is important to understand the issues and to devise ways to overcome these issues and make use of the advantages that the longer lesson period gives the teacher.
These issues discussed below come out of my own experience in the class room when my school changed from six 40 minute periods per day to four 70 minutes per day. It also reflects the experience of the staff of my department.
The issues are in no particular order of significance but I thought it was important to raise them.
1. It's hard work for teachers and students. It is impossible for most students and teachers to concentrate effectively on one topic for long periods such as one hour. There must be short breaks or changes in what you are doing to sustain the interest and concentration of both students and teachers.
2. Your available teaching time must become "SACRED". Don't let anyone have it without a fight - even the administration. Longer periods mean less numbers of periods. Therefore, one lost period becomes a significant percentage of your teaching time in any teaching week.
3. You must have a homework/study strategy for students. Since you will see the class less often, you will need to suggest when they do homework and when they do study, e.g. do the homework tonight to keep the learning fresh and reinforce quickly or do it the night before the next lesson to have it fresh in the students' minds.
4. Lack of continuity. This occurs when students are absent simply because they lose such a large percentage of their learning time making it difficult to catch up on the missed work. Additionally, for students who are present in class, there may be as many as four days between successive lessons.
5. Work ethic is difficult to develop. Points 2 to 4 above support this point.
6. Strategy for absent student. It is important to ensure that absent students do not get left behind. What I did was to keep in my diary a detailed account of what I achieved in each lesson. I made sure I kept any handouts for absent students. I wrote the names of all absent students on any handout ready to give to the absentees in their next lesson. With the longer period, I was able to spend a little time with them to bring them up to date.
7. Strategy for absent teachers. With the longer lessons, a teacher's absence had a greater impact on the class. Therefore, it is important to plan an effective lesson to cover that absence.
8. Detailed planning and full use of time is essential. It is easy to "waste" time. Plan some extra, short activities for any unexpected spare time that comes in a lesson, e.g. quiz or problem solving activity.
9. Group planning will be essential. If you are part of a team of teachers allocated to the same year level and/or subject, Team Teaching could ease the burden of long lessons and add variety to help maintain student interest and concentration. Students enjoy a change of teacher from time to time.
10. I always seemed to be rushing to cover the course when long lessons were first introduced. This is why you must plan minutely how to use every minute of the long period. What I did was to plan to complete the work program for the term or semester at least a week ahead of any planned assessment.
11. You need to divide your lessons into short segments to survive. Each segment allows you and your students a respite and a chance to "recharge your and their batteries". Have a basic structure for each lesson. Your students should be aware of this structure. Publish it on your board each lesson.
12. Teach skills first and foremost. Good basics enhance a student's chance of being successful in all areas of your course, especially in the more challenging areas of problem solving and critical thinking.
13. Student Mentors. Encourage older students to form study groups of four or five to work together out of school. In class, use your talented students to explain ideas to the class as a whole or to individual students. This is good for their personal development. Students often learn much from their class mates as they tend to "speak the same language".
14. There is time to teach students skills that need extensive time to develop, e.g. develop a logical decision-making process, experimental procedures in Science, developing an argument in History.
15. You can teach a whole topic in one lesson and use subsequent lessons to consolidate. You can give an overview initially, showing where the topic is leading.
16. Students must become more accountable for their learning, homework, study and examination technique. Teach these skills in class in short bursts over time. Revisit these skills as often as you can to reinforce and develop.
17. Learn to work smart - use every available tool or idea you can, e.g. multiple intelligences, listening skills, variety of teaching strategies.
18. Help students learn to think, write and speak using the language and the terminology of your subject disciplines. Give short, subject vocabulary tests/quizzes to enhance these skills and to add another segment to your long lessons.
Rick Boyce has taught for over forty-five years. The last fifteen years before retirement he was the Head of Mathematics in a large Australian school. There, he gained a reputation as an innovator in the teaching of Mathematics and as a presenter of professional development for teachers.
In the final years, his school changed from 40 minute lessons to 70 minute lessons. As a result, he developed a seies of strategies to help his staff adjust to the longer lessons. The experience gained then help create this article. This is but a small taste of what the teacher can expect to find in eBooks written for the young teacher starting a career.
You will find these eBooks on our web site: http://www.realteachingsolutions.com
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